Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)

I.2)Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

I.3)Main activity

Health

I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities

The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no

Section II: Object of the contract

II.1)Description

II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:

The provision of Histopathology Reporting Services.

II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

Services
Service category No 25: Health and social services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Lancaster.

NUTS code UKD4

II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)

The notice involves a public contract

II.1.4)Information on framework agreement

II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

The Histopathology service undertakes in excess of 28,000 histological samples per annum. Including:
a. formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue;
b. non Gynaecological cytology: including fine needle aspirations, urines, body fluids.
To ensure prompt diagnosis of medical conditions and to support timely referral for treatment it is important the reporting turnaround times are in line with the proposed Royal College of Pathologists Key Performance Indicators.
Current situation.
The majority of examinations requiring a pathologist report are currently undertaken by internal Trust consultant histopathologists, who offer a high quality timely service when issuing reports. When we are unable to recruit histopathologists, in times of histopathologist’s sick leave or during high demand for histopathology services, the backlog of reporting can increase and reporting turnaround time is lengthened, thus compromising patient care. In addition, extra lists to reduce waiting times and deal with the increased demand for examinations generate extra reporting, which at times can also create a backlog.
As Histopathology is a core component on the majority of patient pathways, any delays in reporting can effect patients’ return appointments to their clinician — potentially compromising the 18 week RTT target.
The perceived benefits of a remote reporting service are:
Clinical Benefits.
— Capacity and flexibility to provide a first class histopathology service when absentee levels are high, in instances of annual leave and when there are vacant posts.
— Meet or exceed 18 weeks RTT target.
— In house Histopathologists able to prioritise clinical lists during periods of annual leave.
— Any back log of reporting would be identified.
— Extra additional lists would be reported at a set/known cost.
— Auditable Quality Assurance.

II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

85111800

II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): yes

II.1.8)Lots

This contract is divided into lots: no

II.1.9)Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: no

II.2)Quantity or scope of the contract

II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:

University Hospitals Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust wishes to contract with a suitably experienced provider of remote histopathology reporting services.
The length of contract will be for an initial period of 2 years with an option to extend the contract for up to an additional period of 2 years subject to continuing demand and / or satisfactory performance.
Estimated value excluding VAT:
Range: between 230 000 and 280 000 GBP

II.2.2)Information about options

Options: no

II.2.3)Information about renewals

This contract is subject to renewal: no

II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion

Duration in months: 24 (from the award of the contract)

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information

III.1)Conditions relating to the contract

III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:

The contracting authority reserves the right to require deposits and/or guarantees and/or bonds and/or any applicable other form of security. Details will be provided in the contract documents.

III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:

The contracting authority reserves the right to require groupings of bidders to take a particular legal form, a single bidder to take primary liability or each party to undertake joint and several liability. Consortia bids are acceptable.

III.1.4)Other particular conditions

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no

III.2)Conditions for participation

III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:
1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once):

— Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘continue’.
— Enter your correct business and user details.
— Note the username you chose and click ‘Save’ when complete.
— You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure).
2. Express an Interest in the tender:
— Login to the portal with the username/password.
— Click the ‘PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers’ link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier).
— Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content.
— Click the ‘Express Interest’ button at the top of the page.
— This will move the PQQ /ITT into your ‘My PQQs/ My ITTs’ page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only).
— You can now access any attachments by clicking ‘Buyer Attachments’ in the ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’ box.
3. Responding to the tender:
— Click ‘My Response’ under ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’, you can choose to ‘Create Response’ or to ‘Decline to Respond’ (please give a reason if declining).
— You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification.
— Note the deadline for completion, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT.
— There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the ‘Submit Response’ button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the e-Tendering help desk.

III.2.2)Economic and financial ability

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: As set out in the ITT which is available from the address in section I.1.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: As set out in the ITT which is available from the address in section I.1.

III.2.3)Technical capacity

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:
As set out in the ITT which is available from the address in section I.1.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
As set out in the ITT which is available from the address in section I.1.

III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts

III.3)Conditions specific to services contracts

III.3.1)Information about a particular profession

III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Type of procedure

IV.1.1)Type of procedure

Open

IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

IV.2)Award criteria

IV.2.1)Award criteria

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction

An electronic auction will be used: no

IV.3)Administrative information

IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:

A) Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:
1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once):

— Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘continue’.
— Enter your correct business and user details.
— Note the username you chose and click ‘Save’ when complete.
— You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure).
2. Express an Interest in the tender:
— Login to the portal with the username/password.
— Click the ‘PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers’ link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier).
— Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content.
— Click the ‘Express Interest’ button at the top of the page.
— This will move the PQQ /ITT into your ‘My PQQs/ My ITTs’ page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only).
— You can now access any attachments by clicking ‘Buyer Attachments’ in the ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’ box.
3. Responding to the tender:
— Click ‘My Response’ under ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’, you can choose to ‘Create Response’ or to ‘Decline to Respond’ (please give a reason if declining).
— You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification.
— Note the deadline for completion, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT.
— There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the ‘Submit Response’ button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the e-Tendering help desk.
(B) The Trust utilises the NHS supplier information database (Sid4Gov) to manage and assess general pre-qualification information in the form of a profile. Candidates are requested to provide their profile on the Sid4Gov as follows:

To continue with the registration process Suppliers must have a current DUNS Number. If a Supplier does not have a DUNS Number there is a link to the D&B UK website to request a DUNS Supplier Number. Suppliers who already have a published profile on Sid4Gov must confirm that information is up to date; ii) candidates should ensure all relevant sections of their NHS Sid4Gov profile are completed to demonstrate their ability to meet the short listing criteria applicable to this contract. Where access to Sid4Gov is unavailable, please contact Sid4Gov helpdesk at Telephone: +44 8452992994 Email: support@nqc.com Any supplier may be disqualified who does not respond to the following in the requisite manner: 1) Supplying a profile in NHS Supplier Information Database (sid4gov) as part of their PQQ submission. The Contracting Authority has no influence in relation to the time period involved in the generation of a sid4gov profile, however, it understands that the process can take between 2 to 5 days and that these timescales may vary from country to country.

(C) The contracting authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any offer.
(D) The contracting authority is not responsible for any costs incurred by bidders in relation to their participation in this process.

IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

no

IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document

IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

5.11.2015 – 23:59

IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up

English.

IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

in days: 90 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)

IV.3.8)Conditions for opening of tenders

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1)Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: no

VI.2)Information about European Union funds

The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no

VI.3)Additional information

A) Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:
1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once):

— Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘continue’.
— Enter your correct business and user details.
— Note the username you chose and click ‘Save’ when complete.
— You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure).
2. Express an Interest in the tender:
— Login to the portal with the username/password.
— Click the ‘PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers’ link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier).
— Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content.
— Click the ‘Express Interest’ button at the top of the page.
— This will move the PQQ /ITT into your ‘My PQQs/ My ITTs’ page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only).
— You can now access any attachments by clicking ‘Buyer Attachments’ in the ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’ box.
3. Responding to the tender:
— Click ‘My Response’ under ‘PQQ/ ITT Details’, you can choose to ‘Create Response’ or to ‘Decline to Respond’ (please give a reason if declining).
— You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification.
— Note the deadline for completion, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT.
— There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available) You must then submit your reply using the ‘Submit Response’ button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the e-Tendering help desk.
(B) The Trust utilises the NHS supplier information database (Sid4Gov) to manage and assess general pre-qualification information in the form of a profile. Candidates are requested to provide their profile on the Sid4Gov as follows:

To continue with the registration process Suppliers must have a current DUNS Number. If a Supplier does not have a DUNS Number there is a link to the D&B UK website to request a DUNS Supplier Number. Suppliers who already have a published profile on Sid4Gov must confirm that information is up to date; ii) candidates should ensure all relevant sections of their NHS Sid4Gov profile are completed to demonstrate their ability to meet the short listing criteria applicable to this contract. Where access to Sid4Gov is unavailable, please contact Sid4Gov helpdesk at Telephone: +44 8452992994 Email: support@nqc.com Any supplier may be disqualified who does not respond to the following in the requisite manner: 1) Supplying a profile in NHS Supplier Information Database (sid4gov) as part of their PQQ submission. The Contracting Authority has no influence in relation to the time period involved in the generation of a sid4gov profile, however, it understands that the process can take between 2 to 5 days and that these timescales may vary from country to country.

(C) The contracting authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any offer.
(D) The contracting authority is not responsible for any costs incurred by bidders in relation to their participation in this process.

VI.4)Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals

Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: The contracting authority will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar days standstill period at the point of information on the decision to award the contract is communicated to bidders in accordance with Regulation 32A of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. Any bidder wishing to appeal the decision to award the contract, or after the award of the contract, appeal the award, shall have the rights as set out in Part 9 of the Public Contract Regulations.

VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained